A friend just sent this rate to me via western union from the united. State

And we in Nigeria are yet to have it. God of mercy, have compassion on the poor for them to survive this trying economic period.

This is the XE live rate today. They go by the official bank rate rather than general market rates. XE has been showing between 198 and 200 for a long time now, even up until this morning but they have updated to the latest activities now.

Its a big blow for some people with Naira looking to Import, import prices will no longer be able to benefit from the 199 rate that was pegged at the banks. Inflation of Imports is now on track but this will actually benefit the crude oil $ export sales , benefit by bringing in a greater Naira amount per dollar value on each barrel of oil. It seems like they should have done this right from the start when oil prices fell, but they locked up dollar flow becaue they needed the dollars for imports. Nigeria is overly import dependent and that is why they favored 199 to a $. Spending all those oil $ on imports did not profit Nigeria. Now the need to use oil dollars to buy imported refined fuel is no longer on their hands because its been shifted to private hands. Soon, added local refineries will improve the situation even more so and this low value Naira situation will be a real benefit.
In fact, it will benefit all exporters and encourage Nigerians to expand the exportation market. That is the way to a giant and more stable economy.
Many imports will become pricey soon and people will suffer lack ,but Nigerias huge market will encourage those foriegn companies to consider local production to favor the need for affordability. If Nigeria can just get it together enough to be a safe and functinal place for those companies to come and set up production.
Its a good sign though with the major Auto manufacturers who have set up in Nigeria and those contracted to do so.